Flipkart Group CEO Binny Bansal Steps Down After ‘Allegation Of Serious Personal Misconduct’
Walmart says investigation didn’t corroborate allegations against Bansal
Flipkart Group Chief Executive Officer Binny Bansal quit following an investigation into alleged “serious personal misconduct” even as he denied the allegation.
“His decision follows an independent investigation done on behalf of Flipkart and Walmart into an allegation of serious personal misconduct,” Walmart Inc. said in a press statement. “He strongly denies the allegation. Nevertheless, we had a responsibility to ensure the investigation was deliberate and thorough.”
Walmart said while the investigation “did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant’s assertions against Bansal, it did reveal other lapses in judgement, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how Binny responded to the situation. Because of this, we have accepted his decision to resign.”
The statement didn’t give details of the allegations against Bansal.
Kalyan Krishnamurthy will continue as the CEO of Flipkart, which will now include Myntra and Jabong, Walmart said. Ananth Narayanan will continue as the CEO of Myntra and Jabong and will report to Krishnamurthy.
Binny in an internal letter written to the staff and reviewed by BloombergQuint added that he wanted to continue for a “few more quarters” after closing the Walmart deal, but the decision to step down was accelerated after the “personal events”.
“These have been challenging times for my family and me. I am concerned that this may become distraction for the company and the team. In the light of these circumstances, I feel it is best to step away as Chairman and Group CEO,” Bansal wrote.
Bansal’s resignation marks the exit of co-founders from India’s largest online retailer. Sachin Bansal (not related to Binny) had exited the company they founded more than a decade ago after selling his stake to Walmart earlier this year.